Bunny Tour of Britain sign stolen
A LARGE Bunny Tour of Britain sign erected by four men at the end of Keyworth Lane and reported to the police as having been stolen has been returned from the garden of a nearby house.
The 10ft x 10ft hand painted sign which showed a Bunny rabbit riding on a cycle holding a sign saying ‘Welcome to biking Bunny’ disappeared on Tuesday afternoon last week.
Parish council chairman Coun Graham Norbury said the sign with a sister one at the opposite of the village saying ‘Bye Bye from the Bunny bikers’- had been admired by lots of people.
It was made and sign-written by local resident Mr John Berridge but he was away and unaware of the flurry of phone calls and efforts being made to trace the missing sign.
When it was first noticed the sign had gone, Coun Norbury said he was very disappointed and knew many people in the village shared his disbelief and anger.
The resident whose garden it was in said he had taken it to keep it safe and had intended to take it to the village hall for safe keeping, but hadn’t got round to it.
Local resident Julie Rutter had been one of those who actually dressed up as a rabbit for the Tour visit and was with other people at the site where the sign had been when last seen and when the local resident turned out and said he had the sign.
“We were over the moon. We were worried about how we were going to break the news to the guy who designed it,” she said.
Both Notts County Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council who were closely involved in the Tour visit, say they are aware that souvenir hunters have been taking items including the special bunting, signs and the yellow-painted bikes that were displayed in every village on the route of the race.